Wishlist from an offline-only hardcore player
Disclaimer: I only play Franchise Mode, Play Now and Be A Pro (a bit) so if things are missing, go ahead and make your own wishlist New Options Mascots on/off X X-Factor on/off X Pressure System on/off X Pressure System board graphics on/off X New Features (General, Franchise Mode & Be A Pro) Make skaters glide more both in user controlled and cpu controlled state. They stop like the ground surface is gravel CONFIRMED Make superstar cpu defenders react harder on opposition forwards cutting into the slot. (Quick flick right stick right to left or vice versa). Right now it's very overpowered to skate fast along the boards and then deke/cut in to the slot to expose defenders and goalie. It result in a goal about 50% of the times, even with goalie sliders set to 100/100 X In older games some players like Patrick Kane was really fun and reactive to manual deke with. Today it's much less creative and more bound to sequenced animations (click button > deke animation plays). It was really fun in Shootout Mode online. People created youtube videos and shared their deking skill with others much more. A good balance between now vs then (nhl 12-14) X Goalies should stop more simple dekes like backhand forehand dekes at a higher rate X THIS IS STILL NOT FIXED CONFIRMED THROUGH TRAILER/ARTICLE New custom jerseys and logotypes in create a team X You removed the ability to edit created team during post season in Franchise Mode? Why? BRING IT BACK Updated standard goalie masks (all modes where you can edit players) X Increased length of handshake line after completed playoffs series, right now it's about 3-5 seconds long X More replays showing close-up player reactions to near goals, shot blocks leading to pain, etc X Store Stanley Cup winner team picture to watch later through the menus (if the user won) X Tunnel walkout cutscene during playoffs in Franchise Mode CONFIRMED Let users customize hairstyle and eyebrows in Franchise Mode X Present starting goalies in game intro CONFIRMED Present and compare the two team's top players in game intro (can be based on career stat if veteran players or current season stat for others, milestones, etc), like in a real broadcast X NOT ADDED CONFIRMED THROUGH TRAILER/ARTICLE Three stars of the game cutscene after a game X Show team walk out from tunnel and crowd reactions during game intros CONFIRMED Updated crowd models and animations (also fix the crowd clapping with freezed towels in playoffs). CONFIRMED The outdoor settings/rinks are incredible in pro-am/woc, make use of them in franchise and be a pro (some event or something) X Team practice in Franchise Mode and Be A Pro (maybe outdoor practice during post-season?) X Outdoor Stadium games X Stop showing promo popups in main menu, it is very frustrating and makes most of us wanting to stay away from online modes even more X Remove female refs in men's leagues X Add more grit to how players interact with each other (yelling at ref or opposition, talking trash, etc) NOT REALLY A THING, EA ADDED SOME YAPPING PLAYER MOUTH ANIMATION IN PENALTY CUTSCENES UI panel showing last game three stars and game result in Franchise mode and BAP (right now you have to navigate a lot to see that - box score) X Generate 3D headshots for all auto generated players in Franchise Mode (add option to enable/disable when starting a franchise). It's ok if this takes a long time generating each season, but if it slow down menus, then maybe not worth it X PC release would be great X More context after goal scored. Next whistle talk about or show graphic for the goal scorer and cut to player in camera. Context could for example be: "1st goal after 5 games cold scoring streak", "1st point after returning from injury", etc X More random timing for when cpu coach pulls the goalie. Right now cpu opposition coach pull goalie with around 00:50 left in the period. Also only if they are losing with min 1 goal or max 2 goals SEMI-CONFIRMED OPPOSITION COACH NOW CALL TIMEOUTS BUT HAS NOT YET CONFIRMED PULL GOALIE TIMINGS In goal replays, remove the slowmotion to real-time in the middle of the replay. It doesn't look that good, we do not need fancy hollywood effects and a giant blue marker highlighting the puck, we see it anyway. Same with X-factor replays, but at least we can turn those off. X EDIT (ADDED JULY 18TH 2026): Added green labels to improvements that seems to be in NHL 27 EDIT (ADDED SEPTEMBER 9TH 2026): Added green labels to improvements that seems to be in NHL 27 and corrected things confirmed not being in the game after I played the trial. Added X to items confirmed not being in NHL 27 Fixes Fix poor positioning of cpu teammates blocking slap shots from the blue line NOT CONFIRMED Fix slow update of header player information (large headshot with name and other info) when hovering players in lineups, player lists, etc in Franchise Mode X Fix lag occurring with 1 minute left in each period X Still can feel it but it's less lag now Fix show mascot on/off in create a team (it's always on in-game, even if saved "off" in create a team for expansion draft in Franchise Mode) NOT CONFIRMED Fix mascot drumming cutting off arena music during faceoffs CONFIRMED Improve coaches body models and fix clipping of glasses (for example Dan Muse) CONFIRMED Tune hitting to be more realistic. If players are prepared for a hit, then don't make them go down this easily as now. Same with players getting hit into the bench, happens too much now. X System & Experience System: Xbox Series X Experience: Owned every NHL game since NHL 2000 I play with sliders set to punish my own players and be in favor of the cpu players. Standard Superstar AI is no match. Which I hope future games will change I also want to say that I enjoy the presentation added in NHL 26, but patches this release has been underwhelming
Updated: LIST OF ALL NHL26 NEW FACE SCANS ADDED AND MISSING
FULL AUTHENTIC REAL SCANS Macklin Celebrini (SJS) – CONFIRMED SCAN Matvei Michkov (PHI) – CONFIRMED SCAN Lane Hutson (MTL) – CONFIRMED SCAN Mathew Schaefer (NYI) – CONFIRMED SCAN, hair too short Michael Misa (SJS) – CONFIRMED SCAN, wrong hair way too long and light AI-GENERATED SCAN ADDED AND NEEDED (EA likeness + generic hair) Will Smith (SJS) – CONFIRMED SCAN (bad quality) Dustin Wolf (CGY) Ivan Demidov (MTL) Zeev Buium (MIN) Cutter Gauthier (ANA) – CONFIRMED SCAN Sam Colangelo (ANA) Jackson LaCombe (ANA) Mason Lohrei (BOS) – CONFIRMED SCAN Martin Pospisil (CGY) Kevin Bahl (CGY) – CONFIRMED SCAN Jason Dickinson (CHI) Frank Nazar (CHI) – CONFIRMED SCAN (bad quality) Alex Vlasic (CHI) – CONFIRMED SCAN Artyom Levshunov (CHI) Sam Rinzel (CHI) Logan Stankoven (CAR) – CONFIRMED SCAN Yegor Chinakhov (CBJ) – CONFIRMED SCAN Dmitri Voronkov (CBJ) – CONFIRMED SCAN Cole Sillinger (CBJ) – CONFIRMED SCAN Jack Drury (CAR) Thomas Harley (DAL) – CONFIRMED SCAN Simon Edvinsson (DET) – CONFIRMED SCAN Vasily Podkolzin (VAN) – CONFIRMED SCAN Matthew Savoie (EDM) Alex Laferriere (LAK) – CONFIRMED SCAN Niko Mikkola (FLA) – CONFIRMED SCAN Alex Turcotte (LAK) Alex Newhook (MTL) Jake Evans (MTL) – CONFIRMED SCAN Kaiden Guhle (MTL) – CONFIRMED SCAN Mike Matheson (MTL) – CONFIRMED SCAN Will Cuylle (NYR) – CONFIRMED SCAN Will Borgen (NYR) Fabian Zetterlund (OTT) – CONFIRMED SCAN Noah Cates (PHI) Pius Suter (STL) – CONFIRMED SCAN Matias Maccelli (TOR) – CONFIRMED SCAN Filip Chytil (VAN) – CONFIRMED SCAN Nils Hoglander (VAN) Connor McMichael (WSH) – CONFIRMED SCAN Aliaksei Protas (WSH) – CONFIRMED SCAN Ryan Leonard (WSH) Josh Doan (BUF) Michael Kesselring (BUF) – CONFIRMED SCAN Ryan McLeod (BUF) – CONFIRMED SCAN Jiri Kulich (BUF) Jack Quinn (BUF) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF) Connor Geekie (TBL) – CONFIRMED SCAN Mavrik Bourque (DAL) – CONFIRMED SCAN Zachary Bolduc (MTL) Dalibor Dvorsky (STL) Jimmy Snuggerud (STL) Dylan Holloway (STL) – CONFIRMED SCAN Jake Neighbours (STL) – CONFIRMED SCAN Philip Broberg (STL) – CONFIRMED SCAN Pavel Dorofeyev (VGK) – CONFIRMED SCAN Maxim Tsyplakov (NYI) – CONFIRMED SCAN Darren Raddysh (TBL) – CONFIRMED SCAN Jack McBain (UTA) – CONFIRMED SCAN LIKELY TO HAVE GENERIC FACE Yaroslav Askarov (SJS) Zayne Parekh (CGY) Oliver Moore (CHI) David Reinbacher (MTL) Rutger McGroarty (PIT) Denton Mateychuk (CBJ) Alexander Nikishin (CAR) Fabian Lysell (BOS) Jackson Blake (CAR) Gabe Perreault (NYR) Quentin Musty (SJS) Beckett Sennecke (ANA) Tij Iginla (UTA) Sam Dickinson (SJS) Konsta Helenius (BUF) Cole Hutson (WSH) Daniil But (UTA) Dmitri Simashev (UTA) Berkly Catton (SEA) Axel Sandin-Pellikka (DET) …and many more. The rest of the 2022 to 2025 draft classes are also likely to have generics if missing from the game already.
Game issues in the last minute of a period
I’ve had this game for about a week on my Xbox. Every time it’s in the last minute of a period, whether online or offline, my game becomes very laggy and it’s about unplayable, the picture is jumping around, all the inputs are heavily delayed. And to add on, online modes, especially EASHL, my inputs are delayed. Please fix this, I don’t know if anyone else if having this issue. These issues have caused my game to freeze and crash on numerous occasions.Playing for over 26 years? Probably more!
Okay I actually have a floppy disk that I bought because a nephew said it was good. So I bought it. It sucked compared to other games I played. I played or bought more games since then some not even sports games. What I don’t understand is why you don’t listen to the people who play your games!
NHL 26 offline play
This game is still unplayable in offline mode! CPU AI is completely overtuned, on breakaways i cant even follow the AI controlled forwards! The puck is like a magnet 🧲 on the CPU sticks, once i poke it away in the next second its back on their sticks, hitting on CPU forwards has no effect, even the puck stays on their stick after a big hit?!?! When CPU is on full pressure, you can count down the seconds, when they score?! Every rebound from my goalie land on CPU forwards stick and they score in 9 of 10 cases! In a few words, this game is totally scripted unfair unlogic garbage and has nothing to do with a hockey simulation, go home EA and reset your brains at Saudi Arabia, 2k, please bring back the NHL series, 2k10 is still much more funny than any EA hockey games!!!!I have no words
I have asked before why the Be A Pro ( and actually spell it out as BAP doesn’t seem to be understood) stick does not do anything it is supposed to. I can’t actually control a poke check as my stick always go to the puck. Even when I do the hold and redirect it. Nowadays that slows me down and even if I block a pass the puck still makes it. I guess I am saying why doesn’t the stick of a Be A Pro actually be more effective than a NPC?Tradeable Teams List Calculation is Wrong
Game Mode: Franchise Mode Platform: Xbox Series X|S Issue Description There is a fundamental logic and math error in how Modified No-Trade Clauses (M-NTC) calculate tradeable teams in Franchise Mode. Instead of applying the clause exclusively to the 31 other teams in the league, the game uses a flat backend subtraction based on total league size (32 - Clause Count = Tradeable Pool. Because of this, the player's own current team is automatically forced to occupy one of their No-Trade restriction slots. This creates a faulty calculation that artificially inflates the tradeable teams pool: • With an 8-team NTC, the game calculates 32 - 8 = 24 tradeable teams. • However, because a player's current team cannot be traded to anyway, having it occupy one of the 8 NTC slots means only 7 actual external teams are being blocked. • Out of the 31 other teams in the league, blocking 7 results in 31 - 7 = 24 tradeable teams. The Core Problem: Players are being shortchanged out of a true 8-team external restriction because their home team is stealing one of their block slots, artificially inflating their tradeable pool to 24 instead of the correct 23 (31 - 8 = 23). Steps to Reproduce 1. Start or load any Franchise Mode save. 2. Inspect any player card belonging to a skater with an M-NTC (e.g., an 8-team No-Trade clause). 3. Observe the Tradeable Teams List counter, which incorrectly displays 24 tradeable teams. 4. Note that because the player's current team is silently taking up one of the 8 NTC slots, only 7 external teams are actually restricted out of the 31 available trade partners (31 - 7 = 24), rather than properly enforcing a full 8-team block against the rest of the league (31 - 8 = 23) Supporting Evidence • Screenshot of Jokiharju with the 32-8=24 bug • Video of trading away Jokiharju and unable to trade back for him and Zacha who if also traded earlier PS Posting this here because it seems to get ignored in the bugs forum.Be A Pro 2.0 – A Complete Career Simulation Proposal
I've spent a lot of time thinking about what Be A Pro could become, and eventually I stopped looking at it as a collection of individual feature requests. Instead, I tried to design it as a connected long-term career system. The result is a 147-page Game Development Proposal for Be A Pro 2.0. The Core Idea Don't rebuild everything. Connect everything. NHL already contains many of the building blocks needed for a much deeper career experience: Draft and player development Contracts and free agency Statistics and awards Playoffs International hockey Team management Fan reactions Media Sponsorships Customization Existing dialogue and presentation systems The problem is that many of these systems currently feel disconnected from one another. Be A Pro 2.0 would connect them into one persistent career ecosystem. A Career, Not Just Player Progression The player's career would develop through interconnected systems such as: Performance → Reputation → Relationships → Leadership → Career Opportunities → Sponsorships → Life → Legacy The player could gradually: Earn their role within the organization Build relationships with teammates and coaches Develop leadership and eventually earn captaincy Build a reputation with fans and media Make meaningful contract and career decisions Develop a personal brand Represent their country Experience evolving playoff narratives Participate in an optional Life Mode Become a franchise icon Continue into coaching, scouting or management after retirement The goal is for different careers to produce genuinely different stories. The World Should Evolve Too The player's career should exist inside a living NHL ecosystem. Players should develop, decline, retire and be replaced by new generations. Teams should rebuild, contend, decline and rebuild again. Coaches and management should change. Rivalries should emerge and disappear. Franchise records should be broken. The league should look different after 15–20 seasons than it did when the player's career began. Life Mode Life Mode would be an optional layer that players could configure as: Off / Basic / Full It could include: Housing Finances Lifestyle Relationships Family Vehicles Community Career-life balance Players who only want hockey could simply leave it disabled. Players who want a deeper career simulation could enable the additional layers. Monetization I also wanted to address the business side. The proposal deliberately avoids pay-to-win career progression. Instead: Don't monetize progression. Monetize the world created by progression. A successful player could build a commercial career through: Sponsorships Brand partnerships Sponsored clothing Campaign-based collections Promotional events Lifestyle content Real-world brand integration These systems could provide optional monetization while keeping actual hockey progression earned through gameplay. Development Approach This proposal is not asking EA to build 147 pages of features simultaneously. The systems are designed to be introduced in phases. Phase 1 – Career Foundation Connect and expand existing NHL systems. Phase 2 – Career Depth Relationships, leadership, mentorship, organizational influence and dynamic career events. Phase 3 – Life Mode Optional personal-life simulation. Phase 4 – Commercial Career Sponsorships, personal branding and commercial opportunities. Phase 5 – Legacy & Post-Career Franchise history, Hall of Fame, coaching, scouting and management. Future NHL releases could then continue expanding individual systems rather than rebuilding Be A Pro from scratch every year. The Development Philosophy The proposal is built around four principles: Reuse what already works. Connect what currently exists separately. Build new systems only where necessary. Create systems that can grow over time. The goal isn't simply to add more features. The goal is to make the features that already exist matter to each other. Ultimately, Be A Pro should answer: "What kind of hockey career can you build?" rather than simply: "How high can you make your overall rating?" I've attached the complete 147-page proposal for anyone interested in reading the full design. I'd genuinely appreciate feedback from the community and, especially, discussion about which systems would provide the greatest value for Be A Pro. Be A Pro 2.0 should be a long-term career platform, not just another player progression mode. https://1drv.ms/b/c/f982dda1c97ac6b9/IQDKoWfP3V3fQJBGgVNT1GrGARwPvAgj83a8awqb8oHTwU8?e=SZhXxyNHL 27 PLAYER CUSTOMIZATION & CREATION
EA_Aljo Please read this and pass it along🙏🏻. Now that it’s being discussed to push ideas for NHL 27 (even though we’re probably too late, so I hope you’ve already thought about this). PLAYER CUSTOMIZATION & CREATION I’m very grateful for the work done with face scans over the past year, more of that would definitely be appreciated. but one thing that is still far below acceptable standards and really needs updating is the options and variety for both player customization and creation. Creating players using only preset generic faces feels extremely outdated. We need more options and choices than just 5 eyebrow styles and eye colors. Like Madden and FC, we need full face modification. Creating players in today’s NHL is honestly really boring, especially younger players, for example, if you want them to be drafted a few years later in Franchise mode. We need more options! I’m fully aware that we can’t get face scans for everyone, especially in lower leagues and junior leagues, but this would remove a lot of the disappointment and make things much easier. ALSO, we need the option to edit already assigned generic faces for players, for example Oliver Moore, being able to change hairstyle, hair color, and modify the face itself. That would make everything much easier for both you and us. For 96% of players with a generic face, it doesn’t match them at all. There can be players of fully Asian background who are given a face that doesn’t resemble them whatsoever. ALSO, let us edit more than just beards for players with face scans. I’ve noticed with your new AI technology that some players end up with very wide, oversized heads and helmets that don’t fit properly (for example Alexander Holtz), and a lot of these face scans look a little off. The option to adjust things like head width and other facial features, like in Madden and FC, would eliminate this problem, with editing options, players could at least fix that themselves. At the very least, being able to change hairstyles would be incredibly valuable. For example, Shane Pinto (attached) would need an update, this would save you from constantly needing to update players and from receiving endless requests for updates. Hockey guys change hairstyles as often as they change underwear. Something else I’ve noticed is that AI-scanned faces often have helmets that are way too big. A lot of players have oversized helmets, and it looks ridiculous. We need more options to edit equipment, especially helmet size, so people can fix it themselves if it bothers them (and it really does bother people a lot). A mode like Franchise Mode would get a whole new life from this. Being able to edit faces, hairstyles, and equipment during a season, things like helmet sizes and sticks (color, graphics, patterns), and even having the option for spraypaint on the end of the stick like many players use, would make a huge difference. This issue with helmets is something that absolutely must be fixed. This should not still be a problem in 2026. I really hope you pass this forward! Thanks!🙏🏻🙏🏻
NHL 27 Connected Franchise asymmetric team control
Will NHL 27’s Connected Franchise support asymmetric team control? What I mean is: I manage Minnesota and my dad manages Colorado, but when I play Minnesota vs New York, my dad can take control of New York. And when my dad plays Colorado vs Dallas, I can take control of Dallas. Will there be a feature that allows players in the same Connected Franchise to manually take over CPU‑controlled opponent teams in each other’s games? Also, any chance it will be available from 2 players only? I've been waiting to play online franchise with my dad for ages now. We live in different countries with no chance to see each other on daily basis and we just wish to finally play with each other a regular season online. Thank you 💚
